In The Sweet Buy And Buy: Zsa Zsa, Winners Talk Shop

CHESAPEAKE — Fashion consultant Zsa Zsa Gabor headed for a rack of sport coats, picked out a blue blazer and rhapsodized over its merits.

"All men should have a blazer," said the Hollywood actress, as Jeff Chumley slid his arms through the coat sleeves. "You need to wear a blazer when you come visit me."

"OK, whatever you want," said Chumley, an employee at Newport News Shipbuilding, with a shrug and a sheepish look. He wore an Army camouflage cap and a plain T-shirt. "I don't like wearing coats too much."

Jeff and Tammy Chumley of Hampton won a $10,000 shopping spree Thursday with Gabor in a radio station contest. They passed through the aisles of Leggett Department Store at Greenbrier Mall the way Gabor went through her last seven husbands: quickly and without hesitation.

Leggett was the first of two stores on the one-day spree, which also included a stop at Circuit City in Norfolk.

"She's a little demanding," said Mrs. Chumley, a 46-year-old waitress at International House of Pancakes in Hampton. "But she seems nice enough."

Trailed by a crowd of about 40, the Chumleys looked overwhelmed by the flashing cameras, the gawking onlookers and the princess of self-promotion.

The couple took some of their winnings in gift certificates at the two stores; the rest of the money will be spent later, they said. Chumley said he wanted to put a down payment on a Corvette and purchase new bedroom furniture.

Gabor, 71, did a little shopping for herself. She paused to comment on a faceless doll - "All dolls should have their faces," she declared - mulled over Estee Lauder perfumes and pulled several Vuarnet T-shirts from a display rack to wear while horseback riding in Arizona.

"I never get time to shop at home," said the star of 1958's "Queen of Outer Space," dressed for the occasion in a form-fitting dress with shoulder ruffles, a diamond-studded bracelet and a large diamond on her left hand. "Everything is ordered by mail from Europe and sent to me. But I l-o-o-o-o-ve shopping, dahling."

Gabor, who also starred in 1966's "Picture Mommy Dead," has been traveling around the country for years doing promotions for radio and television, said Michael Disney, Gabor's stylist and travel coordinator.

Gabor complained of money troubles a few hours before the mall stop on contemporary-hits radio station WNVZ-FM (104.5), which had paid an undisclosed amount to bring her to Hampton Roads for the day. Gabor talked of paying $250 an hour and putting down $20,000 to retain lawyers to fight her recent Beverly Hills court case.

As part of the radio promotion, Chris Bailey, WNVZ program director and morning disc jockey, flew out to Gabor's Los Angeles home to tape a television commercial. It aired during the past month.

Gabor was convicted of assaulting a police officer who had pulled her car over. She was sentenced in September to spend three days in a Los Angeles County jail and perform 120 hours of community service and was fined $12,837. This month, another 60 hours of community service was added to the sentence.

"It's not easy being Zsa Zsa, I tell you," said Gabor, who said she has an autobiography coming out in a few months. "I don't blame that gorgeous, dumb police officer. I blame that damn judge."

As she shopped, Zsa Zsa became the patron saint of disposable income. She leaned over to Bailey, who was holding the shopping-spree money, and whispered, "Those poor people should buy something."

Other shoppers gawked at the well-preserved platinum blonde.

"This is truly a fantastic sight," said James Moore, a visitor from Collinsville, in Central Virginia. "It's the first movie star I've ever seen."

Others wanted to pose for pictures with the recent naughty girl of the courtroom. Gabor complied by taking snapshots with several small babies and star-struck adults. She had advice for some.

"Don't let your baby eat up his thumb," Gabor told Susan Svaib of Chesapeake, the sister of the thumb-sucking baby. "It will put stains on his teeth."

"She's everyone's favorite celebrity because she's so funny," said 20-year-old Daniel Wrede of Chesapeake, who had his picture taken with the star. "I can't wait to show this one to my friends."

In about 45 minutes, Gabor and the Chumleys were back in the stretch limousine to be driven to another store. Two Chesapeake police detectives, walkie-talkies in hand, watched Gabor's limo pull away.

"I'll tell you one thing," said a detective, who didn't want his name used. "If she assaulted an officer in Chesapeake, things would be a little different for her."